“But not only will the Dropper drop Mr. Edgars, it will leave him unharmed. Leo,” he said, addressing Edgars by what was evidently his first name, “you’ve been shot with the Dropper, in demonstrations such as this, how many times now?”

Leo Edgars said, “Uh, I guess, I think…I don’t remember exactly, Gary.”

Before any nervous laughter could erupt, Gary Merker said, in the tone of a carnival barker, “Twenty-seven times! That’s how many! Leo has been shot twenty-seven times and yet remains undamaged in any way whatsoever.”

Leo grinned again. “Actually, Gary, I believe it’s twenty-seven times.”

There were some nervous chuckles. There was the sense among all of us, I think, that Merker’s assistant was a bit of a dim bulb who could benefit from a few more volts.

Merker smiled along with everyone else and then did something funny with his nose. He twitched it, pulled on it a couple of times between thumb and index finger. He turned away from the audience for a second to conduct some bit of nasal maintenance, then faced front again and said, “The Dropper is an ideal tool for dealing with, for example, mental patients. A hardened criminal, a rapist, a bank robber, you don’t lose too much sleep shooting one of those types even if they never get up again. But a, you know, nutcase who can’t help being the way he is, that doesn’t deserve a death sentence.”

Some cops exchanged awkward glances.

“Now, Leo, you pretend to be a mental patient coming at me, with a knife, perhaps.”

Lesley had slipped away a few moments earlier and was off to the side, ready with her camera.

“Sure.” Leo took a few steps back, paused, put his fingers to his temples for a second, as if getting himself in the moment, and then he charged.

“Ahhh!” he shouted. “I’m crazy!”

Lesley was taking pictures as Gary Merker raised his Dropper stun gun and fired.

The streams of water were so small, and came out so quickly, that I almost didn’t see them. But the results were immediately apparent. There was a brief crackling noise as they hit Leo, and his body went into an immediate spasm, dropping instantly. Lesley moved in for a better shot. Given Leo’s size, there was quite a “fwump!” when he hit the mat. Everyone recoiled, wondering whether Gary had just murdered his associate and we would all be called upon as witnesses.

“You see!” said Merker. “Instant capitulation! And if I wanted to, I’d be able to shoot again immediately!”

Leo just lay there. Lesley got off a couple more shots.

“Uh,” said the woman cop who’d asked a question earlier, “is he okay?”

Leo was still not moving.

“Leo!” Merker shouted.

His face still pressed into the mat, Leo said, “Errr.”

“He just needs another minute,” Merker said. Slowly, Leo moved one of his arms, then another, and then he was slowly moving up onto his knees as most of his audience held their breath. With care, he got back onto his feet and dusted himself off.